Mobile phone network Orange has successfully bought Ananova, the
world's first animated newscaster, from the Press Association (PA)
in a £95m deal. Formerly known as PA New Media, Ananova was only
launched in April. 100 staff will transfer to Orange as part of the
deal. The PA decided to auction the technology and intellectual
property rights so that it could raise funds for other
developments.
News of the deal sent shares in Digital Animation up from 26p to
105p yesterday. Digital Animation developed the real-time
text-to-voice technology behind Ananova.
It is expected that the PA will use the funds to create more
content for its news and information services as well as for paying
returns to shareholders. As part of the deal, PA will deliver news
and information services to Orange.
It is not yet clear how Orange will use Ananova, since it is a
technology requiring high bandwidth, and therefore unsuited to WAP
enabled phones and devices. The Ananova chief executive commented
that “Ananova will be the friendly face of Orange”.
